


i guess you're stuck (with me)

by peachyun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, jeno gets stuck inside a slide, one (1) tabaluga reference, renjun works at a playground, thats the plot tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 17:52:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15124757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyun/pseuds/peachyun
Summary: “You have to be kidding me,” Renjun whined but couldn’t stop the clear tint of amusement in his voice. “Again?”“Well,” Jeno sighed, zero guilt in his voice, looking up from where he was stuck inside the slide’s tunnel. “Seems like I never learn, huh?”





	i guess you're stuck (with me)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ultraviolentae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultraviolentae/gifts).



Renjun sighed deeply, resting his hands on his hips as he watched the loud mess in front of him happen. The red polo shirt he was wearing has started to get uncomfortably damp between his shoulder blades and lower even if the air conditioning was “technically” working fine. He chewed on his bottom lip as he checked the time. Quarter to five.

He had a little over an hour to go and then he’d be free from this hell.

If he survives, of course.

The job wasn’t that hard per say. It was a rather simple task and he just had to do it twice a week, five hours each. No time to get tired, really.

But a hell lot of time and opportunities to get annoyed.

What motivated him to start working at Rainbow Plaza, an indoor playground in the mall he had 15 minutes away from his house? Well, the proximity was one of the pros, obviously. Saving up money for university was the main reason, though; he was finishing high school soon enough to care about his future already. The flexible working hours helped to decide as well. Also, he has never had trouble spending time with kids and watching over them.

Well, maybe until he started working with them here.

Bear with him, he was sure it would be a great experience. He had finished a course for counsellors a year prior and was now certified to take care of children up to the age of 14. He’s spent a month on a camp as one of the few adults there; they put him in charge of arts and crafts and honestly? He was having the time of his life. The seven & eight year olds were all charming, motivated and enamored by his skills, by the end of each batch he would receive many handmade gifts from his little pupils as a thank you for being able to learn something from him. He’d organised all those lessons himself and put a lot of consideration into what he could teach the campers so the results made him swell with pride. Seeing people satisfied with his work fueled him enough to seek for more similar jobs.

Which is why he was deceived by the job offer of a carer at the mall. He’d thought “well, why not! children love me!” and that was where he was wrong.

He might have been loved by the nice, knowledge-hungry kids at the camps but tired, annoyed children left by their moms in the hands of random strangers for an hour or so? Nope, those little demons were incapable of feeling such thing as love. They were only capable of screaming, wailing, punching each other, and throwing colorful balls from the pit at the workers there.

Or so it seemed.

The place the playground was in by no means had enough room for everyone to breathe. It would get hot and stuffy very easily and the wheezing aircon could do just so much. Somehow the kids didn’t mind it, they ran and screamed carelessly while the keepers struggled. Renjun hated it so much but there wasn’t much he could do about it, especially with the amount of times he’d have to climb into the huge castle slides’ tunnels, the plastic sauna, to help a child who tripped or dropped something and needed an adult’s help.

Apparently now he was needed inside the castle, too. Because he was pretty skinny and short it was always him who had to go there and check if everything was alright and currently a small line has started to form by the stairs inside, which meant the way in was blocked by someone. Renjun fought a deep sigh away and headed to the castle.

Kids were whining and stomping their feet so Renjun chose to skip the part where he asks them what’s wrong and just went straight to the entrance, getting past the snotty masses.  
Imagine his surprise when he saw a grown ass light haired boy, most likely an adult even, stuck in the slide hole legs down, guilty looking face up.

“Uhm, hi,” the stranger greeted Renjun, an eye smile making an appearance on his face. “What’s up?”

Renjun felt his eyebrow rise up in disbelief on their own. “Out of all slides, you chose the narrowest one.”

“Yep!”

“You’re kinda proud of yourself, aren’t you?”

“Better that than whining that my butt is too big, isn’t it?”

Renjun held a chuckle in and instead shook his head.

“You got stuck around your armpits, your butt went it.”

“Well, my buffy arms, then?”

This time the Chinese boy actually snorted but quickly composed himself. The kids were getting impatient, one was even tugging at his shirt to make him do something. Ungrateful brat.

“If I grab you under your arms and pull will it hurt you?” Renjun asked, stepping a bit closer. The blonde bit his lower lip, looking down at the slide.

“Not really? The frame doesn’t really touch me, it’s my shoulders that made it impossible to pass through, I just can’t really get leverage to get out since it’s slippery plus there are children down there so I can’t really kick.”

“I don’t think you could kick someone-”

“I’ve been pulled by my feet a few times since I got here, I’m not taking any risks.” The boy interrupted him firmly, looking somewhat sheepish. Renjun released a sigh.

“Fine, I’ll just pull you out then,” he announced, bending down to get a grip under the other’s arms. “One, two, three!”

Renjun tugged sharply, using his stance to get leverage. Grunting, he somehow managed to help the boy get back on his feet without losing the balance himself. A mental pat on the back, well done.

“Thanks, man.” The intruder shot him another blinding smile. Renjun cleared his throat.

“How did you get in here in the first place?” The Chinese boy asked, heading outside of the castle to let the kids have their slide back without them standing in the way. “Are you here with someone or did you just come here to play by yourself like a creep?”

“I’m here with a cousin, actually,” the white-haired boy explained, looking through the children around to spot a familiar face and smiling when he saw it. “She wanted to get down this slide and told me to follow and who was I to say no to her?”

Renjun looked at him funny.

“Uh, a responsible adult?” He responded, shaking his head slightly. “Nevermind. It’s better to find you as the reason of the slide being impassable rather than more diapers.”

“That’s nasty.”

“I know!” Renjun whined, flailing his arms.

“Does this happen often?” The taller of the two asked, cocking his head slightly.

“Yep,” the brunette responded, a bitter note in his tone. “Some bring their own trash, too, like, I’m pretty sure children don’t carry around coffee cups or clothes tags. I hate people.”

“Odd confession coming from someone who works at a crowded playground, ain’t it…” the blonde looked down at the sticker tag on Renjun’s t-shirt. “... Injun?”

“Well, kids are annoying but they’re bearable. It’s the parents that I handle much less. I got this job to be a counsellor, not a mom for adults.” He shrugged, clasping his hands behind his back. “And uh, my name’s Renjun, Injun’s my Korean name. It’s easier to pronounce for kids.”

“I see,” the taller boy nodded, reaching out his hand. “I’m Jeno. One of the annoying people, I assume”

“Well, Jeno” Renjun grasped the other boy’s hand firmly, smiling at him. “You didn’t get on my nerves. I won’t put you in the ‘people i hate’ category yet.”

“Good,” Jeno stuck his chin out. “‘Cause I’ll be back and I’d actually want to see you again.”

The Chinese boy spread his arms, looking around.

“Feel free to come back to the Rainbow Plaza anytime!”

✄

Today wasn’t the greatest. It was pretty shit.

First, Renjun’s computer crashed and he couldn’t print out his homework and give it on time. Then it started raining while he was running to school. Then he tripped. Scraped his knee, made a hole in the pants. Got yelled at by a teacher for breathing too loudly. Stained his shirt with blueberry juice. Hit himself with a door. Got an ugly cut on his temple.

His mood wasn’t the cheery joyful attitude his employer wanted from him but fuck that guy, he was never at Plaza anyway.

Renjun changed into his work uniform - that goddamn red polo shirt was going up in flames the second he leaves this job in the future - all while quietly psyching himself up. He had 5 hours of work ahead, he should focus on that, clear his mind, not have to blink the angry tears away every few minutes.

Luckily, the playground was fairly empty. Last time he was there it was sunday, many families were visiting the mall on the weekends, and during the week the visitors weren’t as numerous. It was going to be a slow day. Only a few kids in the ball pit were being carefully watched by Kuanlin, some were by the soft plushies, four in the “learning zone” with Tzuyu, three or four at the castle. Renjun headed towards the plushies, trying to come up with some games that would involve all the children there, who were now playing by themselves only and not really interacting.

“Hey there, have you seen Mister Squish? He’s a bear about that tall, with a yellow bowtie and glasses. He told me to meet there so he could tell me some stories!” The Chinese boy spoke to the children in a hushed voice, trying to get their attention and make them join. Most of the kids looked at him, curiosity painted on their faces, and then one of the girl gasped loudly and pointed her little finger at Renjun.

“You’re the prince!” She said, no, announced wildly, a little gap in her teeth out in the display. Renjun blinked a couple of times, lowkey confused, but quickly got a grip and played along.

“Oh? Did Mister Squish tell you I’m a prince?” He asked the girl slowly, kneeling down next to her on the soft carpet resembling a map of a city. The kid shook her head.

“No, my cousin did! He said you saved him and helped him out of the castle like a good prince!”

“Oh?” Renjun chuckled, a little smile making its way onto his face. “Did you hear about how I slayed a dragon on the way, too?”

“Did you really?” One of the other kids asked, shuffling to sit cross legged closer to Renjun. The Chinese boy sent him a gentle smile.

“Of course I did. I’m the master of the sword where I’m from, I defeated the dragon. How did you think I got this battle wound?” He pointed to his temple and got a few gasps in return. “Are you, perhaps, a prince too?”

“Yes!”

“Me too!”

“Can I be a princess, too?”

“I want to be a knight!”

“Injun oppa, will you be our king?”

Renjun nodded to everything that was being said, feeling more at ease than he assumed he would have. This was why he signed up for. To provide fun time and have a good time himself. Some kids from the ball pit and castle walked up to them as well, curious to see what were the excited noises about.

“Injun oppa, can I be your queen?” One of the girls asked shyly, wringing her fingers together. Renjun opened his mouth to respond but someone cut in.

“No way, he saved me from the tower, if he’s getting anyone’s hand, it’s mine.”

The Chinese boy looked up to see the familiar boy he met on sunday standing behind him and looking down with a soft smile.

“Jeno oppa! Your prince came here today at last!” The little girl shrieked, rocking back and forward.

“I see, Soonhee, I see” Jeno chuckled, sitting down next to Renjun in front of the kids. “What were you talking about?”

“We were just introducing ourselves, we all gathered here to have a royal tea party, didn’t we?” The brown haired boy asked the children and got noises of approval as the answer. “Unfortunately my court counselor Mister Squish disappeared all of sudden, and only he knows how to serve the best tea in the land! How about we go look for him?” The kids yelled out gleefully, all in favor of the search for Mister Squish. Renjun turned to Jeno. “You can join us if you want? Since you’re a royalty, too.” He smiled.

“I’ll gladly join,” the white haired returned the smile.

Renjun waved goodbye with both arms, watching as Jeno and Soonhee passed the entrance and left Rainbow Plaza. For the past hour the boy helped him organise time for children, followed him around and basically served as his assistant in the activities the Chinese boy came up with. In the meantime, Kuanlin took a break and Tzuyu cleaned up the discarded plushies given how in the end all kids joined Renjun and Jeno’s group. Unfortunately, the boy and his cousin had to leave eventually and all children agreed that continuing the fun without them didn’t make much sense since at some point they crowned Jeno the King Of Fun. (Renjun and Jeno both were crowned Kings, somehow none of the minors questioned how there should be at least one queen, and Renjun was thankful).

“Good job Injun,” Tzuyu walked up to him with a sweet smile on her face. “Soon you’ll leave us all jobless.”

“As if you weren’t working here just because your parents were making you,” Renjun scoffed, but there was no malice in his words. “Not my fault I’m the King of Imagination, as I’ve been crowned.”

“Nice title. All they ever titled me as was the Pretty Unnie.” Tzuyu pouted. “They are right, but Eunbin got to be called the Mermaid, so why can’t I be something less basic too?”

Renjun chuckled, putting his hands inside of the pockets of his shorts. He had almost 4 hours of work to go but somehow his mood wasn’t as bad as it was at the beginning, and he was fairly optimistic about the rest of his shift.

“This guy, though,” Tzuyu interrupted his train of thought, raising her eyebrows at him. “He’s an older brother or something, right? Because I’ve been working here in the same hours for the past four days and he’s always been here. Now I think he was looking for you.”

Renjun shrugged, looking in the direction of the exit where Jeno and his cousin disappeared mere minutes ago. “Dunno? He’s said he’d come back here. He has to take care of his little cousin and he told me he’s not really good at it.”

“Why was he the center of attention today, then?” The Taiwanese girl smirked, crossing her arms over her chest in a cocky posture. “I think he said that just so he has an excuse to see you.”

Renjun rolled his eyes.

“He did well today because I’ve been telling him what to do, Miss Oblivious,” he explained, mimicking her posture. Tzuyu whined in response.

“Now I miss being the Pretty Unnie.”

✄

Jeno started to appear during Renjun’s shift once a week. He’d always be here waiting for him to start his Thursday shift, Soonhee either by his side or already somewhere playing with other kids. The company was appreciated; kids loved Jeno, his gentle smile and soft voice worked its way into their hearts quickly so each Thursday Renjun had a helping hand in all activities he got to do.

They would talk, but not much. Children were the main focus of their meetings, after all. They couldn’t really let them off on their own, especially since watching over them was something Renjun got paid for. They’d sneak short exchanges of opinions or views from time to time and this is how they got to know a little about each other.

One day the boss called Renjun in. The boy knew something was off because it has never happened before. Fortunately, it wasn’t anything bad on his side; some parents were just complaining about the fact that their children were in the hands of someone who was not a professional caregiver and they didn’t think it was reasonable of Rainbow Plaza to let a random boy - obviously, Jeno - just do their work. Renjun was asked to refuse Jeno’s help from now on and gently ask him to not participate in the activities as an assistant but rather just as the guardian of his cousin. The Chinese boy was upset but he couldn’t say so to his boss. He did really need the money and arguing with higher-ups wouldn’t end up well for the bottom of the food chain like him.

So when the next time appeared and offered his help, Renjun shook his head, sending him a tight-lipped smile.

“Sorry, I’ll have to ask you to let me handle this.” He greeted his teeth while keeping up the smile. “It’s what I’m paid for after all. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“I know that, but it didn’t stop me from engaging ‘till this moment?” Jeno furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused. “What changed now? I just want to help.”

“I don’t make the rules, sorry.” Renjun sighed, quickly checking what his group was doing before he turned his attention back to Jeno. “My boss asked me to tell you to not engage in the organised activities as one of the counsellors unless you get a job here. Parents were complaining about letting a stranger play with the kids and the boss told me to stop it.”

Jeno scoffed. “Technically, you’re a stranger too.”

“A stranger with a certificate,” Renjun corrected, raising one of his fingers to make a point. “I’m really sorry, but I should focus my attention on the kids and not you, since it’s my job.”

Jeno pouted. “But I’m a kid, too!” He whined, trying out his best puppy eyes. Renjun giggled.

“Cute. But you’re a whole adult, and you’re too big to play in some of the places here.” He sent the white-haired boy a knowing look, a soft smile dancing on his lips.

“Yeah, you’re right” Jeno responded, something odd in the tone of his voice. “I’m too tall to be a kid.”

✄

“You have to be kidding me,” Renjun whined but couldn’t stop the clear tint of amusement in his voice. “Again?”

“Well,” Jeno sighed, zero guilt in his voice, looking up from where he was stuck inside the slide’s tunnel. “Seems like I never learn, huh?”

“But it’s the sixth time? I’m starting to think you do it on purpose just to annoy me because you can’t be that stupid.” Renjun huffed, bending down to help the other get out of the slide.

“What? I would never!” Jeno fake gasped once he was out and standing on his own. “Maybe I just value your company? Since each time you have to walk me out and check if I didn’t hurt myself.”

“That’s just cheesy.” The Chinese boy sent him the most unimpressed look he could have mustered. “Once you even had a nasty cut on your leg, you doofus. There are no sharp edges anywhere in Rainbow Plaza! I had to go get the first aid kit for you and ask someone else to look after my group of children in the meantime.”

“What if I wanted all of your attention on myself?” The white-haired boy pouted, sheepish.

“You could’ve just asked to meet up then, it’s no big deal.”

“Wait, really? Would you have agreed?” Jeno asked, seemingly surprised. Renjun furrowed his eyebrows and looked at him for a second.

“Yeah, why not? This way you wouldn’t sabotage my work here.“ He punched the other boy’s arm playfully, probably feeling more pain than the other did.

Jeno beamed. “Great. What time do you finish today?”

“In two hours, but I have a project to work on.” Renjun visibly winced, thinking about all the work he was going to do this evening.

“Tomorrow, then?”

“I don’t work tomorrow.”

“I mean, do you have time tomorrow?”

“Oh,” the Chinese boy raised his eyebrows. “I finish my classes very late, I don’t think I’ll be in the mood.”

“Tuesday?” Jeno wasn’t letting go. Renjun bit his lip.

“I get off at three in the afternoon? I’m free after that.”

The white haired boy smiled in that disarming way of his. “Perfect. Meet me by the entrance before four pm. I’ll take you somewhere.”

“Will I get back from there in one piece?” Renjun joked, rocking on his heels. The fellow eighteen year old scoffed.

“I can’t tell you that. It’d ruin the surprise.”

✄

So the two of them started hanging out from time to time. Renjun’s schedule was really packed but he did all he could to find some time to meet up with Jeno. He couldn’t handle the boy’s sadness each time he had to refuse a meeting because of his school or extracurricular activities. He had a lot of things to write both for his high school and for his future university for which applications had already started. It felt as if he didn’t even have a chance to just sit down and relax for a minute, watch a video or read a book, but if his free time was lost in favor of meeting Jeno, he didn’t dare to complain.

Jeno was sweet. He didn’t try to pry things out of Renjun like many had. He gave him space when he needed it and encouraged him to talk wherever the occasion was right. He took him places, too, the kinds where you had to pay for the visit as well as for simple walks in the park or by the Han River. Other people would have found it weird and boring, but Renjun wouldn’t have it any other way. He genuinely enjoyed Jeno’s presence, talking to him was relaxing and interesting, the boy had a bright mind and liked to share little things about himself.

Currently they were lying down on a blanket on the grass by the Han River, Jeno leaning against a tree and searching something on his phone with a focused look on his face as Renjun observed him from his position, lying on his belly.

“There, I found it,” Jeno said excitedly, plugging a pair of earphones to his phone and handing them to the other boy. “That’s Boston and the song is ‘I Need Your Love’. It’s on a vinyl we have at home and one of the first songs I remember hearing. According to my dad, I would dance to it and play around as a baby anytime someone would play it. They even considered signing me up to an agent so I could become a child actor.” He laughed, Renjun sending him an amused smile. Jeno’s nose was absolutely cute when he laughed.

“That’s adorable. My parents just said I used to be very excited about ‘Barbie Girl’ when I was little. Not really something original, ain’t it.” The brunette scrunched his nose, tapping his finger against the blanket in the rhythm of ‘I Need Your Love’. “Boston, you said? Didn’t they make ‘Take My Breath Away’?”

“No, that’s … you probably think of Berlin. A different city. And a chick sang it.”

“Oh, now I remember” Renjun nodded, his head swaying to the sides. “That’s such a prom song.”

Jeno laughed. “You probably know Boston’s most popular song, too,” he added, once again searching through his Spotify playlist instead of just searching up the title. He changed the song and a familiar tune wormed its way into Renjun’s ear.

“Oh, I know it!” He exclaimed, a wide smile on his face. “That’s ‘More Than A Feeling’, right?”

Jeno nodded enthusiastically, reaching towards the tupperware with fruit Renjun brought here. “It appeared in so many movies and on tv.”

“Yeah, I don’t even know where I heard it first.” The Chinese boy nodded, his feet dangling in the air. “Oh I just remembered, apparently there’s a recording of me standing by the radio while Toto’s ‘Africa’ was playing and I was swaying to it with an ice cream cone. The ice cream drops, I scream and put the cone on my head, then resume dancing.”

A beat passed and then Jeno started laughing out loud.

“And you only remember it now?” He choked out, grasping his stomach and shaking with laughter. “This beats my Boston story.”

“What, I thought everybody had the same reaction upon hearing ‘Africa’ for the first time,” Renjun chuckled, rolling an apple in his hands. “It was a one-time thing only, too.”

It got quiet for a minute, with Renjun listening to ‘More Than A Feeling’ and Jeno watching him. Then the blonde spoke up.

“You know, speaking of childhood, you remind me of this one character. Personality-wise”

Renjun perked up, curiosity filling out his features. “Which one?”

“He was white,” Jeno started explaining, eyes squinted as he tried to recall the character he was talking about and visualise him better. “And like, really round. And liked his sweets.”

Renjun furrowed his eyebrows, a surprised smile on his face. “Do you mean Moomin? Do I remind you of Moomin?”

“No, no, not him,” Jeno shook his head and Renjun pouted, clearly disappointed “I meant… Was it Arktos? The snowman from ‘Tabaluga’?”

Renjun sat up immediately.

“I remind you of an evil snowman?!”

“Well, I mean, he loved ice cream, didn’t he?” A pack of chips hitting his face only made Jeno laugh hard. “What, that’s a compliment! He was very funny and important to the story!”

“Eat shit!” Renjun hissed, but couldn’t keep a smile off his face.

Jeno was too damn adorable to be mad at him.

✄

After four months of meeting up with Jeno at least once a week, the good times had to end.

Both school and uni have gotten mad with the assignments and requirements. Renjun wanted to do more than his best, he had everything figured out and had to follow this path if he wanted to fulfill his dreams. He barely slept, barely ate, and juggled the job at the Rainbow Plaza on top of that just so he could save up for the uni.

Unfortunately, so many times he was too tired to see Jeno. He’d agree for the boy to visit him anyway, just so he could see his face at least, but most of those times Renjun would be writing something school related or would just be too tired to hold a proper conversation. Jeno was amazingly patient and lenient, once when Renjun fell asleep by the desk he woke up in his bed, tucked in with his favorite Moomin plushie moved to his side as well, and a little note on his nightstand.

That was three weeks ago.

Kids at Plaza seemed to have sensed how nervous and Renjun was nowadays because even they acted more carefully and quiet around the boy. He still did his best at work, just sometimes he tended to zone out and also started to sport a nice set bags under his eyes. Fortunately for him, the work was slow and nothing bad had happened because of his momentary carelessness. Other workers would just suggest the cleaning duty for him as they took care of children, and Renjun didn’t even feel in a right position to suggest he could still work normally, because he couldn’t.

He changed the trash bag in all bins around the playground and headed towards the exit when he almost stumbled into someone.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, bending down to pick up the bag that fell out of his grip. When he raised his eyes he saw Jeno’s worried face looking at him with sadness. “Oh, hi Jeno.”

His friend looked worried. “Renjun, you need to look after yourself better.” The blonde said, taking some of the bags from Renjun’s grasp.

“Well, in my defense, you appeared out of thin air-”

“I didn’t mean look around yourself, I meant take care of yourself,” Jeno interrupted him, putting his free hand on the Chinese boy’s shoulder. “Christ, you got so thin. You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

“Do you tell all ladies that?” Renjun scoffed, irritation starting to build up in him. He knew he was being irrational, there was no reason to get upset over but he was tired of people telling him what to do. His parents, coworkers, classmates, teachers. Now even Jeno.

“I’m serious,” Jeno sounded really worried but there was also a hint of annoyance in his voice. “I know you’re very stubborn and that soon all your assignments will be over and you’ll be free, but what if you break in half sooner than that?”

Renjun sighed deeply and resumed walking to the exit. “Leave me alone, Jeno.”

“You can’t just tell me to get lost, you know.” Jeno caught up with him quickly, the trash bags in his hands rustling with his movements. “I care about you too much to see you wilt like that.”

“If you really did care about me,” Renjun turned around abruptly, causing Jeno to startle “You’d let me do my thing. All my friends understand that.”

“But-”

“You were always such a great pal, what changed?” The Chinese boy said quietly, his eyes dark and unmoving. “I need some time alone, okay? I gave you all I could and I always saw you as a good friend but now? I know what I’m doing and I’m sick of people saying they know better. Just, get out of my ass, will you? Give me some space. I’m not your girlfriend for you to play a hero and save me from distress. Please, don’t treat me as such. Let me fucking go.”

Jeno stood frozen, his face not moving a muscle. Finally, he took a breath.

“Fine,” he said and the coldness in his tone made Renjun wince. “I’ll be a good just-another-friend and let you tire yourself out to death. Or I’ll become a stranger if I’m so bothersome to you.”

“You know it’s not-”

“Thing is, I don’t know,” Jeno shrugged, putting the trash bags down. “I thought I knew what the situation between us looked like, but what you’re saying doesn’t add up with it.”

“I called you my friend, what the fuck do you want from me, Jeno” Renjun uttered, confusion and anger fighting in his guts.

“Nothing. Nothing anymore.” The blonde responded and proceeded to walk away, leaving Renjun surrounded by trash bags but with emptiness slowly taking over his inner self.

✄

 

“Fuck high school lives,” Renjun sighed to the phone, one hand pressing it to his ear and the other laying on his forehead as he stretched across his bed. “I want my life back.”

“Drama queen,” Donghyuck teased on the other side of the line. “It’s really over soon, then you can finally see me after those thirteen years of leaving me Renjunless.”

“Who’s the drama queen, again?” The Chinese boy huffed a laugh, moving to sit up. “You know I’m sorry it looks how it looks, but I’ll make it up to you as soon as I’ll be able to.”

Donghyuck hummed wistfully. “Bitch you better~ Chenle will soon forget what your face looks like.”

“I will not!” The mentioned boy shrieked somewhere close to Donghyuck, probably on the other side of a table in the diner the three of them would often hang out at. “I love and cherish his porcelain face and glass eyes, he knows that.”

“Gee, thanks,” mumbled Renjun, rolling his eyes very hard. “Has uhm, has any of you heard from Jeno recently?”

The was a pause on the line and Renjun felt nervous not knowing what the two of his friends were doing on the other side since he couldn’t see their faces. “Guys? I know you know Jeno, we hang out all together, I have enough brain cells alive to remember that.”

“Yeah we know him,” Donghyuck started, a hint of wariness in his tone. “But we thought you two were tight? Why are you asking us about him when he sees you more often than we do?”

Renjun closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I think we kind of fell out.”

“YOU WHAT?!” Chenle’s scream resonated in his ear, making the brunette flinch and move the phone a bit further from his ear. “You guys broke up?!”

“What the fuck, no, you make it sound like we were together,” Renjun huffed, bringing his knees closer to his torso and hugging them. After few seconds of silence, he spoke again. “Why are you so quiet? You’re making me anxious.”

“Well uh,” Donghyuck said, and Renjun could almost see him looking very confused which didn’t happen often. “We kinda… did think? You were together?”

“What? Jeno and I? Don’t make me laugh,” the brunette joked, but he was nowhere near laughter. “Why’d you think that?”

“Well, he was always looking at you as if you hang the stars in the universe and whatnot,” Chenle said and Donghyuck hummed in agreement. “And he wouldn’t shut up about you when we saw each other without you that one time.” The older of the two added.

“He’s just my friend,” Renjun uttered, extremely confused, the feeling of hurt rising in him. “Or was my friend. I don’t know, he came up to me when I was feeling like absolute shit and made demands and I tried to tell him off, and I get he might have been hurt by it but? I called him a good friend and then he said he doesn’t want that, after that he just left. What is his agenda? If he didn’t want my friendship, what did he want?”

The two of his friends got awfully quiet.

“You see, Renjun-”

“Oh my fucking God,” Renjun exclaimed suddenly, standing up from his bed. “He likes me, doesn’t he? Oh fuck, he didn’t want to be just another friend of mine, he… oh my God, how stupid am I?”

“For someone who’s gonna get into a prestigious school you are pretty dumb, yeah,” Chenle said and Donghyuck gasped ‘word’ in agreement.

“I fucked up,” Renjun started walking around his room, the Moomin plushies seemed to be looking at him with pity. “I told him off when he wanted to be there for me, I told him I gave him so much when in fact I gave him nothing of what he wanted, God…”

“Do you like him back, Renjun?” Donghyuck asked softly. The brunette stopped pacing and blinked a few times.

“I- I really do? He’s always been much more to me than just a friend but I never put a name to it and treated him in a simple, friendly way. I just never thought of us as a couple material? He never said anything about liking me?”

“Renjun, seriously, what did you expect him to say to make you realise the boy’s completely into you? ‘Hey Junnie, time for smooching’?” Donghyuck’s eye roll was almost audible through the speaker. “Listen, I saw him a few times and thought you guys were together, and I think I know you kinda well, so maybe he thought his feelings were being reciprocated, just like we thought?”

Renjun started biting his nails, very nervous and very stressed. “What do I do now?” He wailed, moving one hand through his hair and messing it up. “He doesn’t want to see me. I tried reaching out to him but he won’t pick up or respond to my messages.

“Oh my God, what if he thought he was hitting up a hetero!” Chenle gasped and then yelped, probably getting slapped by Donghyuck. “I would feel awful and wouldn’t want to see the face of my failure too fast, too. I kinda get him.”

Renjun felt as if he was going mad. “But I need to see him, I want to explain myself. I don’t want him out of my life!”

“What do you want to do? We’ll help as much as we can!” Donghyuck promised, Chenle whooping encouragingly by his site. “Yeah, if you need a boombox and a choir to serenade him under his balcony, I can arrange that!” he exclaimed loudly.

Then it hit Renjun.

“Oh my God, I have an idea.” He wheezed out, panicking but in a sort of a good way this time.

“Great! Does it involve a boombox?” Chenle asked cheerfully.

“No, but I will need your help. Or rather, Mark and Jisung’s help."

The two boys hummed, both interested.

“Spill.”

✄

“I don’t really want to be there, Jisung,” Jeno groaned, trying to get his hand out of his friend’s grasp. The younger was persistent, dragging him through the mall and not even sparing him a single glance.

“Trust me, you do.” The taller only responded, looking around.

“The mall is closing in like, half an hour anyway, they will try to make us leave wherever you take me.” Jeno sighed shaking his head. When they entered the familiar corridor, he furrowed his brows, utterly confused. “Are you taking me to the Rainbow Plaza? The hell, dude? Aren’t you a bit too old?”

Jisung continued to ignore him as he spotted someone he recognized and sped up a bit. A boy Jeno somehow remembered was standing by the entrance and smiling super wildly, apparently waiting for the two of them. Wasn’t it Chenle?

“You’re finally here! He almost ran away about four times,” the shortest of them chirped, grabbing Jisung by his arm and giving him a toothy smile. “I’ll go first and you two after me, yeah?”

Jeno looked between the two of them as his confusion grew. He promised himself not to go inside the playground anymore as the place caused him a lot of embarrassment and bitter thoughts, yet now his friend wanted to drag him inside without telling him what the hell was happening.

Well, at least at this hour no one was supposed to be inside there, so whatever scheme Jisung and the Chenle buddy were up to, Jeno was most likely safe from facing Renjun.

Right?

The silence inside was the first thing that hit the boy as he walked inside. There were no parents, no children, the emptiness almost eerie. Only after few moments did Jeno notice Donghyuck, Renjun’s friend standing by the castle with his arms crossed, leaning against its wall and smirking in his direction.

“Hyuck?” Jeno choked out, blinking rapidly. “What is this? Why’d you guys bring me here?”

“Well, my dear friend,” Donghyuck said, unfolding his arms “Why won’t you look up and find out by yourself?”

Jeno blanched for a few seconds but did as he was told. He also had to take a few seconds to process what he was seeing.

There, on the roof of the plastic castle, fiddling with a mic stand, stood pale faced Renjun with a small smile on his face.

“Hi,” the boy breathed to the mic, flinching slightly at the echo of his own voice resonating in the room “I uh, I’m glad you made it.”

‘I’ve no idea what’s happening and I didn’t sign up for anything but sure’ thought Jeno’s bitter mind, but the boy didn’t voice that. He wanted the sense of the entire happening to finally make an appearance.

“Right,” Renjun continued, fidgeting in his spot. “I wanted you to be here because I have something to tell you. It’s been on my mind for a while now but as you might know, I’m not the greatest in expressing myself.” the boy chuckled bitterly and took a shaky breath. “This is why I decided… I should start with a song? To restart a connection I’ve shut down between us. It’s- it’s got a message I want to send, believe me. It’s for you. Please, don’t leave in the middle of the song because I want to talk to you afterwards okay” he rushed the ending of his speech with his eyes shut. Then turned to his left and nodded slightly.

Only then did Jeno notice Mark was up there too, holding a guitar plugged to some huge speakers.

What a wonderful perception you’ve got here, mister Lee Jeno.

The boy could only blink a few times, disbelieving, when Mark started playing a soft tune. Jeno recognized the song immediately and couldn’t stop his mouth from forming a little “o” in bewilderment.

Then Renjun started singing.

_I looked out this morning and the sun was gone_   
_Turned on some music to start my day_   
_I lost myself in a familiar song_

Jeno shook his head unconsciously, his eyes glued to Renjun’s small frame as the brunette smoothly delivered note by note. He didn’t even notice when each of his companions stepped away, leaving him on his own, head tilted up to watch the performance on the roof.

He didn’t know what he was expecting. Truth be told he wasn’t expecting anything, really. But Renjun hitting all those higher notes perfectly even if the brunette was shaking like a leaf just some time ago? It really messed with Jeno’s mind. He didn’t even know Renjun could sing so well. Seemed like a thing that would make its home in his mind for some time. Jeno was speechless and felt as if he shouldn’t even dare to blink and miss a part of the performance.

Sometime after the first chorus, Renjun opened his eyes and now was watching Jeno closely, at the same time lightly tapping his foot to the rhythm and swaying with the mic. The boys maintained the eye contact as the older of them belted out the lyrics.

_I see you my darling walkin' away_

Jeno couldn’t stop a smile from blooming on his face. He was no master in English, but he knew the lyrics to ‘More Than A Feeling”’by heart and was able to pick up the slight change in the lyrics.

Wait. The song was dedicated to him, wasn’t it… Renjun was calling him his darling?

_When I'm tired and thinking cold_   
_I hide in my music, forget the day_   
_and dream of a boy I used to know_   
_I was so blind and he slipped away_

Then, another adlib made him even more at loss of words although it started to finally dawn on him what was happening.

Renjun was apologising. He was regretting how everything turned out. He wished things went differently.

Maybe… maybe Jeno’s crush wasn’t as hopeless as it seemed.

The boy was too preoccupied to notice that Donghyuck and Chenle joined Renjun in singing and clapping to the rhythm a while ago.

_It's more than a feeling (more than a feeling)_   
_When I hear that old song, familiar track (more than a feeling)_   
_I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)_   
_of you my darling coming back_

The perfectly harmonized ending astounded even Mark, who messed up a few notes up before he ended playing the song. He moved back a little and coughed, causing Renjun to break the eye contact with Jeno. The boy blinked a few times before he put the mic back onto its stand and headed towards the stairs. Jeno stayed where he was and watched as Renjun slowly approached him to stand right in front of him, playing with his own fingers.

“I really enjoyed the song,” Jeno said after a beat, seeing how much the older boy was struggling to open his mouth as the first one. “Didn’t know you can sing so well.”

“We were here too, asshole!” Donghyuck scoffed in a distance, Chenle by his side trying to shush him. The duo ignored them both.

“I sing from time to time,” Renjun nodded, still twisting his fingers nervously. “Thought it might be useful now. I changed the lyrics, though.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

“I have never met any Mariannes in my life and it would have made no sense for me to sing about one.”

“Clearly.”

“Also I played with the last part too and…”

Renjun paused and looked the boy in front of his straight in the eye.

“Jeno, look. I know why you stopped showing up at the playground and why you stopped contacting me. Took me so damn long to realise it and I’m terribly sorry for that but I see it now.” he took a shaky breath. “I’m just… so not used to someone paying so much attention to me, being interested in me. I didn’t see things that were clearly happening in front of my eyes, I stayed with a clouded perception. I’m sorry I caused you pain.” Renjun reached out for Jeno’s hands and gently took them in his own. ”You were there with me for so long and I took you for granted. But not anymore. I- I like you so much, Jeno. And I would be the happiest if you decided to c-come back to me.”

Jeno studied Renjun’s face carefully. His eyes with hope mixed with uncertainty in them, the bitten bottom lip, the gentle slope of his nose.

Finally, he smiled.

“Okay.”

Renjun made a quiet choked sound.

“Okay?”

“Yes, okay” Jeno chuckled. “I stopped seeing you because I was too sensitive to handle the pain of being rejected. To be honest, I thought I’ve been hung up on a hetero all this time,” a loud ‘EWWW’ could be heard from somewhere close to them “But… you say it’s not like that. You actually want me to be around you and now you know that I wasn’t exactly aiming for a platonic relationship with you.”

Renjun smiled.

“Yeah, I figured it out at last.”

“And now, our intentions are the same, am I right?”

“Yes.”

“So, Renjun, would you like to go out with me? In a romantic way?”

The shorter boy choked and wheezed out something like ‘ohmygoshthatssosudden’ before he breathed in deeply.

“Yes, I’d love to” he responded finally, matching smiles on his face and Jeno’s.

“Good,” Jeno’s eyes almost disappeared in crescents because of the power of his smile. “Oh, and Renjun?”

“Yes?”

“If you fell from that castle, would you have made a squeaky noise when you hit the floor?”

“Lee Jeno you better start running now-”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading i can't english xoxo  
> also thanks to @peachyong for making it happen


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